Absolutely New At This!

[SpaceMonkey]

I am 14 and I'm planning on taking a summer road trip with some friends sometime in the next couple of years, maybe 2011. I know this is a little soon to be thinking about a road trip but I like to plan in advance and I've always wanted to take a road trip.

I am from Florence, SC and I have absolutely no clue as to where I should go and what I should do, I just know that I really want to do it. I make about $85 a week, and I camp a bit.

I would like to hear any suggestions anyone can come up with!

Thanks so much!
SpaceMonkey

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

Honestly, the best thing you can do, when you are still at least 2 years away from being able to even drive, is to dream big, but act small.

What I mean by that is that you should absolutely start thinking of all the places you might want to go on a roadtrip, whereever they might be, but at the same time, start looking at a trip that is actually quite small to get your feet wet. Your first roadtrip doesn't have to be, and in reality shouldn't be, a huge month long cross country trip. Taking a small trip over a long weekend to a destination within a couple hundred miles from home is something that will give you a feel for how you like to travel, and it will show that you can handle the great responsibilities of a roadtrip with maturity. As you gain experience, and as your income increases, you can start planning bigger, and then gradually expand your net to start covering all of those places througout the country that you'd like to go.

[Southwest Dave]

As many of us have, waiting to embark on our first big adventure !

With a lot of time ahead of you to research you should be able to find more than enough places that will leave you wide eyed and drop jawed, it's just a case of keep studying and plotting places of interest to you, keep saving and make that dream become a reality !
As Michael said, maybe it's best to do some smaller trips first and get a feel for things, yes it will take some of your tri fund but these other places are not going anywhere in a hurry. Keep saving hard and it will soon come around.

[RalphZero]

Need more information. You are 14 now and want to take a road trip across the country when you are 16. You and a bunch of your 16 year-old friends will be driving across the country in an automobile with no adult supervision. What is your parent's opinion of this?

This sounds very dubious!!!

[Lifemagician]

As Michael said, dream big, but act small. Never stop dreaming. Dreams shape the future.

May I suggest that you start doing research and reading up about everything there is to know within a 200 mile radius of where you live. When you have read all the books and know all there is to know about the history, geology, demography, etc. you'll have your licence and will be ready for that first small road trip.

By the time you go on your big trip, you will be an expert on doing the research about where you want to go, and why.

One of my nephews did just that, eventually he went to Europe, got some experience there. Then travelled through Africa from North to South - just he and his girlfriend - and now runs a most successful tour company.

You just don''t know what lies ahead of you.

[pancakesx]

I would wait until you have experienced drivers. I am 23, so this isn't coming from your mom but at 16 taking a long road trip with several other teens in the car sounds like a bad idea. Also, check your state laws because many states you can't drive past 9pm without being 18 or having taken drivers ed. You also can't drive with more than 1 friend in the car in some states that is also a teen.

[CalOldBlue]

SpaceMonkey:

I don't know your personal situation, but when I was your age my parents let me plan a road trip vacation. Turns out my dad had to travel from San Francisco to a conference in Houston, and decided to make a family vacation out of it. He let me plan a fast trip there, and a slower trip back, doing some sightseeing along the way.

He had final say on what the stops were going to be, but as I recall, it pretty much went the way I laid it out. After that I got to plan all the family road trip vacations... and I love doing it to this day.

So.... can you negotiate something like this with your parents? Ask them to let you, with their oversight, plan a family trip? It's a way to start.

... and oh yeah, people here can help.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I am 14 and I'm planning on taking a summer road trip with some friends sometime in the next couple of years, maybe 2011.

Planning and dreaming about road tripping is a great avenue to explore for the next couple of years. Here's an article that addresses some of the issues that just about every teenager would-be roadtripper needs to think about. Read it and share it with your folks.

Mark